Bink v. Blackwell

429 So. 2d 228, 1983 La. App. LEXIS 8096
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 8, 1983
DocketNo. 82-CA-117
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 429 So. 2d 228 (Bink v. Blackwell) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bink v. Blackwell, 429 So. 2d 228, 1983 La. App. LEXIS 8096 (La. Ct. App. 1983).

Opinion

CURRAULT, Judge.

Plaintiff, Carolyn Bink, appeals a judgment dismissing her claim for personal injuries sustained when she was struck by a pickup truck while walking along a roadway. Named defendants in the suit were Charles M. Blackwell, owner and driver of the vehicle, and State Farm Mutual Insurance Co., carrier of a policy of uninsured motorist and no-fault coverage maintained by Charles Bink, plaintiff’s spouse at the time of the collision.1

The accident occurred on November 23, 1979, at approximately 12:30 a.m. on the I — 10 Service Road South, at some point between Causeway Boulevard and Clear-view Parkway in Metairie, Louisiana. Plaintiff, a resident of Pennsylvania, was returning from a convenience store to her son’s apartment where she was staying while on a visit when she was struck from the rear by appellee’s pickup truck. At the time, she was walking in a westward direction in the north lane of the roadway approximately one foot from the curb. Visibility was poor due to the time of night, weather and lighting conditions.

Defendant driver of the vehicle, Charles M. Blackwell, was also traveling westward in the north lane of the roadway at a speed somewhere between 35 and 40 m.p.h. The posted speed limit was 45 m.p.h. He was driving down the center of his lane and remained in the center up until and after the impact, at which time he came to a stop approximately 100 feet from the accident point.

The only witness to the accident, Mr. Archie B. Berger, was traveling eastward in the south lane at a speed of 25 m.p.h.

As a result of the accident, plaintiff suffered injuries to her head,' forehead and abdomen as well as to her left flank, buttocks, leg, toe, thumb and forearm.

Suit was filed on October 30,1980, and by answer, defendant State Farm denied coverage. A trial on the merits was held on January 21, 1982. Following submission of post-trial memoranda, on March 16, 1982, the trial court rendered a judgment dismissing plaintiff’s claim for the reason that the accident was unavoidable and not due to any negligence on the part of defendant, Blackwell. The judgment also found that plaintiff was covered under the State Farm policy, but failed to award plaintiff recovery under the no-fault provision.

Subsequently, plaintiff, Mrs. Bink, perfected this appeal.

Appellant alleges as error the trial court’s finding that Blackwell was free from negligence as contrary to the law and evidence; and the court’s failure to award damages to plaintiff under the no-fault coverage of the Pennsylvania policy.

On the first issue, appellant relies primarily on the case of Baumgartner v. State Farm Mutual Insurance Co., 356 So.2d 400 (La.1978) to support her contention that appellee breached the heavy duty of a motorist to keep a sharp lookout and to see what he should have seen. She furthermore cites Seals v. Morris, 410 So.2d 715 (La.1981) for the proposition that for the [230]*230defendant to invoke the unavoidable accident rule, defendant must show that the situation was not brought about through his own negligence. In applying the facts of this case to the law, appellant argues that the trial court failed to consider key portions of the eyewitness’s testimony, which taken as a whole along with the other facts elicited at trial, show that slight evasive action on the part of defendant could have avoided the accident. A review of the record does not support appellant’s allegations.

The Baumgartner case is the leading one on pedestrian/motor vehicle accidents in Louisiana. There the Supreme Court held that contributory negligence is not available as a defense in vehicle/pedestrian collisions and thus the last clear chance doctrine is not at issue in those eases. The court noted that:

“Since the operator of a motor vehicle is aware that he could meet many emergencies in which pedestrians will not always act prudently, and will sometimes be found in perilous situations, he should have the added burden of keeping the road safe, even for those who are negligently caught off their guard. Further, where injury results the burden falls on the motorist who, with the exercise of care reasonable under these circumstances, saw or should have seen the impending peril and had, at that moment, the opportunity to avoid it.” 356 So.2d at 405. (Emphasis added).

In the most recent case on this issue, the Louisiana Supreme Court reiterated its holding in Baumgartner, supra, and stated:

“That [Baumgartner] ruling was designed to compensate for the lack of mutuality of risks involved between motor vehicles and pedestrians. However, we did not impose absolute liability on a driver of an automobile simply when there is a collision between a car and a person. Nor did we say that the motorist is to be held liable irrespective of fault on his part. In fact, in Baumgartner we clearly stated ‘that a motorist who exercises all reasonable care to protect a pedestrian, who nonetheless suffers injury, is not at fault.’ 356 So.2d at 406. The operator of a motor vehicle must therefore be at fault in order to be held liable. This requisite was not eliminated by Baumgartner." Aetna Casualty and Surety Company v. Nero, et al and Knighten v. Nero, et al, 425 So.2d 730 (La.1983).

Thus, if the defendant motorist saw or should have seen the pedestrian in a position of peril, he is only held responsible if he could have reasonably acted to avoid the accident or had an opportunity to do so. Dufrene v. Dixie Auto Ins. Co., 373 So.2d 162 (La.1979).

The facts herein reveal that the accident occurred on a rainy night, shortly after midnight. The weather was such that defendant still had his windshield wipers on although the rain may have stopped, since the sole witness, Mr. Berger, testified that he did not have his wipers on at the time.

The service road involved was an unlit two-lane, two-way street with lanes going east and west, but with some light emanating from the street lamps located along the Interstate. The speed limit on the service road was posted at 45 m.p.h.

On the night in question, appellant was returning to her son’s apartment. She last remembered walking westward in the five to ten foot grassy area on the Interstate (north) side of the roadway. Appellant testified that she was wearing brown pants, a brown and white polka dot blouse and white shoes, and was also carrying a white purse.

The witness, Mr. Berger, was driving eastward in the south lane at approximately 25 m.p.h. He testified that he saw both appellant and appellee prior to the accident, but first sighted appellant, Mrs. Bink, when his car was approximately 25 feet from her. He stated she was walking westward in the north lane, parallel to and approximately one foot from the curb. He also noticed the pickup truck was approximately 25 feet from appellant at the time he first noticed Mrs. Bink, and that:

[231]*231“Just about the time the front of my car was where she was, the truck had hit her. What made me see was she had a white shoe on and the shoe went into the air.” Page 8 T.T.

Appellee Blackwell, driving westward in the center of his lane of travel, testified that he did not see appellant until the impact or a split second before the impact. As stated earlier, he was traveling somewhere between 35 to 40 m.p.h. Mr.

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Bluebook (online)
429 So. 2d 228, 1983 La. App. LEXIS 8096, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bink-v-blackwell-lactapp-1983.